Icebreaking: Between the Cracks
by Taliax
Summary: AU. Companion fic to "Breaking the Ice". A collection of one-shots from that universe that didn't fit into the main storyline/timeline.
1. Read it and Weep

**A/N: ****Basic summary of this series****: This story is a series of prequel one-shots to **_**Breaking the Ice, **_**but you don't necessarily have to read that first. In fact, some things will make more sense if you read this first. Axel and Kairi are siblings. Aqua, Saïx, Xion, and Vanitas are siblings (in that age order from oldest to youngest) and children of Eraqus. Roxas ends up in there somewhere. Disney characters like to make cameos, especially Gaston.**

**Pairings:**** Axel/Xion, Sora/Kairi, Terra/Aqua, Saïx/Jasmine, possible Roxas/Naminé. This universe likes to grow and change and I never know **_**exactly **_**what's going to show up.**

**This chapter is from Saïx's POV. He's 14 and in eighth grade, Vanitas is 7 and his grade doesn't matter because I'm too lazy to remember what it is right now, and Xion is 13 and in seventh grade.**

"_The silvery mist was touched with the first rays of the moonlight…"_

I note in the margin that the mist symbolizes change. Only two pages of _Great Expectations _left. Two pages of annotation. It's a personal standard of mine to never complain about schoolwork, even when it would be satisfying to, as Axel says, "kill it with fire." Still, there is something cruel about assigning eighth graders one hundred twenty-eight pages of annotation to complete over Christmas break. Plus a book report, which I've thankfully already completed. Usually I can comprehend teachers' motives, but surely there's enough time in one school year to give homework without intruding on the second-best vacation. Xion's been pestering me endlessly to make Christmas cookies with her, but I've been so occupied with my assignment I haven't had time. It will be relieving to have this finished. Two pages, and I can get some much-needed rest…

"Saïx, read me a story."

…That is, if I can avoid unwelcome distractions.

Vanitas spins my chair so that I'm facing him. He's wearing his Power Rangers pajamas, the ones that are far too small on him, instead of the appropriately-sized ones Father dressed him in before putting him to bed.

"You know how to read. Besides, it's past your bedtime."

"But you're awake," he pouts, climbing into my lap. I attempt to push him out, but he clings to my nightshirt with one hand, which has a surprisingly strong grip. Never underestimate the strength of a small child. "Read me a story or I'll sic Flood on you."

Flood is his vicious pet hamster, who Vanitas seems to think is also his personal minion. "Unless you want to hear the story of Pip and Estella's reunion, which is exceedingly sappy and out of character, might I add, the answer is no." Why can't he just go away and let me finish working in peace; I'm so close…

"That sounds boring. I've got something _lots _better," he brags, and I suddenly notice what he holds in the hand that isn't tangled in my nightshirt: Xion's diary.

My eyes narrow. "Where did you get that?"

"In her room, duh," he answers, rolling his eyes and then grinning smugly. "Nobody can hide anything from me. I'm the best secret-finder-outer ever."

My younger brother has an obsession with being the best at everything, especially things that annoy the rest of our family. "Flood won't be able to save you when Xion finds out you went through her room."

I pluck the purple hardcover notebook, decorated with Xion's favorite seashell and heart designs, out of his grip.

"Hey! I found it first! Finders keepers!" Vanitas attempts to crawl onto my shoulder to reach it, but I dump him unceremoniously on the floor. "Ow! Saïx, you're a meaniehead! I'm gonna stab you!"

He grabs one of the pencils off of my desk and attempts to jab it into my leg, but I wrench it away. "You know what Father says about stabbing." And punching, and slicing, and biting, et cetera… Unfortunately, Vanitas either has memory loss or simply needs lessons drilling into his head an innumerable amount of times.

"So?" He shrugs, than jumps to snatch Xion's diary out of my hand and misses. "Arg! If I was bigger I'd beat you up! And then I'd feed you to Flood!"

Sigh. I wonder if it's normal for younger brothers to threaten their older siblings so much.

"Hmph. You have no business poking around places you are forbidden." It would do him (and everyone else) good to mind his own business for a change. Someday he'll find he can't weasel his way out of every bit of trouble.

Xion is a well-behaved sister for the most part, but there are a few things that will make her temper snap. Though Father doesn't allow violence or any form of fighting outside of the dojo, Xion may not think about that when she's fueled with anger. Then I'd have to keep her from murdering Vanitas, and I'd have to keep Vanitas from trying to murder her, and I'd rather just avoid that whole situation entirely.

"You're no fun." He crosses his arms, sitting up on the floor, but then his face lights up with a mischievous idea. "If you won't let me read it anymore, then you have to read it for me, hah!"

"Your logic is extremely flawed." I pause. "…Anymore?"

"Yeah, I read some of it already. What're you gonna do about it?" He taunted.

That's always his ultimatum. I can't physically harm him or even threaten to physically harm him, which leaves few options for giving threats other than tattling, which is immature and stopped working on Vanitas long ago. Very few forms of punishment work on him anymore, both Father and I have noticed. I doubt he has any nerve endings left on his bottom from all the times Father has had to use spanking as a last resort. Giving extra chores is usually his punishment of choice, but Vanitas will usually procrastinate on that until someone else does them or Father threatens to take away his toys.

"I can't change what you've already done, but if you don't leave now, I'll scratch all of your Power Rangers DVDs," I say. A childish threat, yes, but an effective one.

"Noooo! I hate you, Saïx!"

He tries to punch me; I catch him by the wrist and immobilize him.

"Go to bed now and leave Xion's diary here," I say calmly.

"Whatever," he growls, and I release him. "Does that mean you won't read it to me?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "What do you think?" Sitting back in my chair, I set Xion's diary on my desk, fully intending to finish my assignment.

"I think you'd like it better than that dumb book." He points to _Great Expectations._

"Vanitas, I don't care how interesting you find Xion's everyday affairs. You must learn to respect our sisters' privacy." Aqua made sure I knew that long ago.

He huffs at me, gold eyes glinting mischievously. "Fine. You won't know who Xion's in looooove with, then."

My own eyes widen, hand clenching around my pencil. I whirl my chair around of my own accord this time.

"Xion has a crush?" No, no, _no. _She's only thirteen. Way too young, and she seems younger with how small she is and all of her childish habits, like watching _My Little Pony _and play-fighting with Vanitas…

"Yeah, but I'm not telling who." He blows a raspberry and runs into the hall, yelling, "I hate you!"

I sigh. Will my brother ever change? I try to ignore what he said. He's a devious child, probably just tossing out more distractions.

I reach for _Great Expectations, _but my hand lands on Xion's diary instead. _No_. I refuse to play Vanitas's mind games. Just finish the assignment, rest, return Xion's diary in the morning and explain what he did, excluding the fact that he read it. He's annoying, yes, but I still wouldn't want him to face consequences that harsh. He'll be in enough trouble just for intruding in Xion's room in the first place.

"_and the same rays touched the tears that dropped from her eyes."_

Write about Estella's emotional change. Don't think about Xion feeling emotions that I have no experience with.

My eyes dart to her diary, and I wrench them away.

"_Not knowing that I saw them, and setting herself to get the better of them…"_

I lose focus quickly. Clearly I'm not going to finish this annotation while suffering from such anxiety.

"I'm sorry, Xion," I whisper, taking hold of her diary. I'm doing this to protect her. If Vanitas was being honest for once in his short life and she _is_ in love with someone, I feel responsible to keep her from acting on it too early and getting hurt. Father has good reason to forbid us from dating until the age of sixteen. I've tried to explain this to Axel, who treats dating like tasting cheeses: trying every variety only to regret and spit them out, but still continuously sampling new kinds with reckless abandon. I can't comprehend how he could call it "fun."

Guilt tightens my throat before I can even open the diary. If our roles were reversed, Xion wouldn't do this to me. As obnoxious and childish as she can be at times, even though she's only a single year younger than me, she would respect any of my secrets.

I rest my forehead in my palms, struggling with the decision. She's my younger sister…

…Which is why I have to do this. I flip to the most recent entry, skimming but trying to avoid any in-depth reading. Just a name, a confirmation of Vanitas's comment. I neither need nor want to know all of Xion's girly feelings.

Nothing suspicious from today's entry, or yesterday's. Then it skips to a week ago, but still nothing, nothing…

There. December fourth. I drop the diary on the ground as if it was Vanitas's vicious hamster. The situation suddenly went from bad to worse.

Of all the teenage males to fall in love with, she picked my best friend. The one with more ex-girlfriends (I'm not sure if it's even correct to call them that; he only dated each of them once or twice) than I care to count. Axel.

I lift Xion's diary by one corner, depositing it closed on my desk. I didn't need to read past the first quickly-scrawled paragraph.

"_Axel broke up with Megara today. Actually, Megara broke up with Axel, but he didn't seem too upset about it. He said he hadn't figured it would work out in the long run, but that their date had been fun. I still don't get why he goes out with girls he doesn't really love. He drives me crazy sometimes… But I still love him. I've tried not to love him so much since it's not like anything can happen between us for at least three years, but I still do. I don't think I'll ever be able to not love him. Why won't he listen to Saïx and stop dating all those other girls? Why won't he wait for me? Will he ever love me back the way I love him?_

I try to slow my breathing. I've unconsciously dug my fingernails into my chair's armrests so hard that tiny crescent-shaped marks are left behind.

Xion, my younger sister, loves Axel, my best friend. I feel a throbbing in the base of my skull, and not just from having stayed up so late.

"Xion… you weren't supposed to grow up so quickly…" Definitely not supposed to grow up more quickly than me…

I should've left her diary closed, secrets unread. Surely that would have been better than knowing… knowing… this. I can't do a thing to change it.

But perhaps there is _something _I can do. I turn off my lamp and slide under the covers, schoolwork forgotten.

I can't change my sister's emotions, nor can I prevent her and Axel from interacting. They've been friends for too long. Still, I can't let her heart lead her to disobey Father, and I can't let her set herself up for disappointment. Axel gushes over her all the time, but not in that way.

But what if he did happen to return her feelings…?

The little sleep I get that night is filled with broken nightmares of my friend causing my sister to break down in tears and other awful scenarios. Not the worst case scenarios, however.

In the worst case scenario nightmares, they end up happily together while I'm banished to the moon, forced to watch them hold hands and bring their faces closer and closer together –

I awake the next day with a bitter taste in the back of my throat and light streaming through the blinds. It feels as if no time has passed; I still have a throbbing headache. I can't keep dwelling on this. Surely Xion won't act on her feelings; her diary said that she's going to wait. Just because I'm her brother doesn't mean I can protect her from everything, especially things that I myself have no experience with… Worrying will only make me anxious and miserable. And paranoid, though I fear it's too late to prevent that now.

Walking purposefully to my desk, I resolve to return Xion's diary to her this instant and never lay eyes on it again. The "never lay eyes on it again" part comes to pass more quickly than intended. The diary is gone.

And my completed book report is covered in multicolored crayon scribbles.

"VANITAS!"

**A/N: knew that the copy of **_**Great Expectations **_**I had to annotate the last third of back in eighth grade would someday be useful! Well, I didn't really, but after I had to spend that much work on it I figured it would be a waste to burn it like a whole lot of my classmates ended up doing. Anyway, a lot of this chapter was kind of based on personal experience. I can sympathize with Saïx. Also in ninth grade I had a giant literature assignment to do over Christmas vacation, so I sort of combined those two awful experiences.**

**I didn't plan for this to tie in with the crayon-melting prank that got Axel in trouble with Eraqus, but they fell around the same place on the timeline, and then it just set itself up from there. Vanitas likes his revenge. I want to do more stuff with Vanitas in this universe.**


	2. Shade of Gold

**A/N: In order to write chapter 5 of BtI, I had to figure out more of Jasmine's characterization and her interaction with Saïx, so I came up with this. SaiJaz is such complete crack. XD XD XD So yeah, this is Jasmine's POV. Oh, and Belle's just moved in, so Jasmine doesn't know her yet, and neither does Gaston. XD I reference Gaston so much…**

Guys can be so dumb sometimes. Do they think I don't know when they just want me for my looks? Or to improve their popularity? Ugh, it makes me sick_. _It didn't take me long to figure it out. Gaston tried once – He had the nerve to just _show up at my house _like I asked _him _out. I bet he still remembers what Rajah's claws felt like stuck in his leg.

Why is it so hard to find a guy who appreciates what's on the inside_? _There has to be someone out there who understands…

XXX

First day of school, same old routine. By junior year I had it figured out: scope out the room to get an idea of what the teacher would be like (the class was Trigonometry, so I doubted any teacher could make it very interesting), then take a look at the other students.

Most of them were familiar faces. Rapunzel was brushing her hair, which I could understand since it was even longer than mine, all the way to the floor, and she probably didn't have time to before school. Lexaeus was silently fiddling with a Rubik's Cube, Zexion reading a large book at the desk beside him and looking so tiny in comparison. Ferb was sitting and… being Ferb, I suppose. He's at least a grade younger than me, but he's always been uncannily smart. Actually, I was surprised he and his brother Phineas weren't in Calculus already. Then there was Kim and Wade, who had already brought out his laptop, whispering secretively.

That covered everyone I knew. More students were still trickling in, but I had already checked schedules with Meg and Mulan, so I knew that they didn't have first period with me. I needed to find a desk before I ended up stuck between Lexaeus and Ferb and smothered in silence until the teacher came up with a new seating chart. I looked around again…

…Who was that, with the blue hair in the back? I couldn't see his face since it was stuck in a book almost as large as Zexion's. I claimed the desk next to him and set my backpack on the floor.

"What's your name?" I asked. He didn't react at all. Either that book was pretty intense, or he was ignoring me… which I had to say would be a first. "Hey, I asked you a question."

He might've grunted. Maybe.

Grinning slyly, I stuck a pencil into his slightly spiky hair. He pulled it out, calmly set it on his desk, and turned the page in his book.

I frowned. "What are you reading?"

Was he mute? Or deaf? _Still _no answer. But at least I still had plenty of newly-sharpened pencils. I stuck them into his hair one by one, and he pulled them out in the same way until he finally slammed my last one on his desk and put a bookmark in his book.

"Leave me alone." He glared, finally giving me a look at his eyes. They were an amber-gold, so similar to Rajah's. Only Rajah's eyes weren't nearly as deep and mysterious.

"You have pretty eyes." I smiled innocently.

He looked confused and a little flustered for a moment before annoyance set in again. "I don't suppose you have anything better to do than pester me," he said.

"I was only trying to start a conversation. What's your name, anyway?" I was now more than curious about him and his strangely attractive eyes.

"Saïx," he said, apparently having realized I wasn't going to leave him alone until he told me. "Here are your writing utensils." He placed my pencils back on my desk, straight up-and-down so they wouldn't roll off.

I was going to ask why he spoke so stiffly, but I had already been a little rude. Sure, he had been rude too by ignoring me, but I wasn't going to make him like me by being rude back.

"My name is Jasmine. Are you new here?"

"No." His nose went back into his book, but I could just barely see his eyes behind his hair, and they weren't moving across the page.

I smiled. "Oh. I don't remember seeing you before."

"In a school as large as Radiant Garden High, I doubt you are familiar with every face."

"Touché." I smiled. There was something intriguing about his voice, too, even when he wasn't looking at me or being very polite. "Speaking of faces, how did you get those scars?" I had seen them when he glared at me, but his eyes had caught my interest first.

He raised an arm immediately, as if afraid I would touch them. "…I'd prefer not to talk about it."

That _was _a little personal, but still, so mysterious. And he still hadn't looked at me since that initial glare. Maybe I had already made him hate me. _Nice going, Jasmine._

"Okay, then. I'm sure you have lots of other interesting things to talk about," I tried, not wanting him to go back to ignoring me.

He snorted.

I put my hands on my hips, which was a little awkward while sitting in a desk. "Don't tell me you're going to be like Lexaeus and Ferb and say all of ten words the entire year." That would be just my luck, wouldn't it…

"Just because I have no interest in social formalities doesn't mean I don't speak." His hair fell further in front of his face, and he made no move to push it away. It looked almost like he was hiding behind it.

"…So you just don't want to talk to me." I crossed my arms. Surely one little joke with pencils wasn't _that _bad. Maybe he had other issues. Maybe he was from a completely different world. How was I supposed to know?

"I never said that." He looked up from his book, and his eyes met mine again. This time he wasn't glaring, and his eyes really _were _pretty. And still impossible to read. "I simply don't want to talk to you at this very moment. Please let me finish my novel in peace; I'm sure my English teacher will assign a massive literature project today."

"But it's only the first day," I pointed out.

"Exactly." He went back to his book and refused to elaborate.

Well, at least he didn't hate me. Probably. And if he did, I still had the rest of the school year to change his mind, and to figure out what he kept behind those pretty cat-like eyes.

**A/N: I'm still experimenting with this pairing, and the entire purpose of this chapter was an experiment, so hopefully I kept Jasmine and Saïx in character. That was my main goal. I don't know if I did that, with Jasmine sticking pencils in Saïx's hair and all… It just amused me so much I wanted to use it. ^^;;**

**Kim and Wade are from the old Disney Channel cartoon Kim Possible (Wade is usually just seen on his computer screen). I think everyone else I mentioned is self-explanatory.**

**I don't have the story of how Saïx got his scars completely figured out yet, but I have an idea. That story will eventually end up in this fic.**

**I think I mentioned it in the main story, but the cat-eye references are to Raberba girl's story "Eye's Like a Tiger's".**


	3. Vanitas Passes Judgment

**A/N: Vanitas's POV. I wanted to write something about Vani, and then I wondered what his connection to Ventus is in this universe, and somehow I came up with this. I don't even know. Vani is an attention-loving brat. :P **

**Vanitas is eight, Ven is fifteen, and Aqua's sixteen. Takes place in the Knight family's huge living room, which seems like the setting for a lot of my plunnies in this universe.**

Ventus was so _weird. _I didn't like him. I'd seen him before, a lot actually, but this was my first time seeing him without Aqua in hearing range.

I bounced up next to him on the couch. "You're weird."

"Huh?" He looked at me like he hadn't noticed me before. I jumped into his lap so he would have to pay attention to me. What was he thinking about when he was staring into space earlier, anyway? Probably something dumb.

"I said you're _weird, _idiot."

He just stared like _I _was the weird one. Why was Aqua friends with this loser? He was probably just as stupid as Terra, and that was saying something.

"You look like Xion's friend, Rock-something," I tried to get a reaction out of him. "I bet you're his evil clone." Pfft, like someone so dumb could pull off evil.

"Roxas?" He asked, still looking stupid with that clueless face. I nodded, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I said." _Stupid_.

"He's my cousin, but we do look almost the same…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Y'know, if he wasn't a year younger than me he _could _be my clone. Wonder if cousins are supposed to look that much alike. I mean, neither of us looks that much like Sora-"

Now he was talking _too _much. Did this idiot know anything? He was supposed to be paying attention to me, not rambling about stuff I didn't care about. "My cousin Xigbar doesn't look like any of us, except he has the same eyes as me and Saïx. Well he has the same _eye, _'cause Saïx cut up his other one so he wears a cool eyepatch now."

Ventus gaped. I could've shoved Flood in there, his mouth was so wide open. "Your brother took out a guy's _eye?"_

I shrugged. "And gave him a huge scar, but Xigbar deserved it. He's a jerk. He scarred up Saïx's face first."

"Huh?" Ventus was still gaping. It was pretty hilarious, honestly. "What happened?"

I grinned, climbing off of Ventus now that he was paying attention to me. "We were at Uncle Xehanort's house – he's a creepy psycho, but he got me Flood for Christmas so I don't hate him too much – but anyway, we were there 'cause Dad wanted to talk to Xehanort, so we had to play with our cousins Xemnas and Xigbar outside. Their yard is _huge, _but it's full of junk and really dusty and hot. Plus Xemnas is boring like Saïx, so they just sat around and wouldn't do anything.

"Xigbar was the only one who would play with me, but Aqua and Saïx and Xion hate him so I didn't want to play with him. I had to bother Xion until she played tag with me, and then Xigbar butted in anyway and started being a jerk to her."

"I'm glad Roxas and Sora are better cousins than him," Ventus interrupted, so I glared at him.

"Don't interrupt or I'll sic Flood on you."

"Who's Flood?"

I sighed like Saïx does when he says I'm being "insufferable." He probably just likes saying "insufferable." And sighing. I bet that's why his name is Sigh-ax.

"He's my hamster, I said that already." I rolled my eyes. "Now shut up, I'm telling the story." If I didn't finish soon, Aqua would finish getting ready and Terra would show up and they'd all leave to wherever they were going.

Unlike Xion and Saïx, Ventus actually listened! Maybe he's not such an idiot after all. Maybe.

"_Anyway, _then Aqua got mad at Xigbar for bothering Xion, and then Xigbar said something mean to Aqua that I didn't completely get but I still would've kicked his butt for it, only Saïx did first."

Ventus looked really mad. "I would've kicked his butt, too."

I laughed. He thought he could kick Xigbar's butt? _Saïx _had to have help, and he was in his berserker-rage. Besides, Aqua didn't need wimpy Ventus to stand up for her. "Aqua would've kicked his butt better than _you."_

"Yeah…" He turned really red. Almost as red as Xion gets when I push her buttons, but he didn't look mad anymore. "She's always been stronger than me…"

I don't think he meant me to hear that, but then he shouldn't have said anything.

"Aqua's the best," I said seriously. Then I got an idea and grinned. "I bet you've got a crush on her."

He looked so shocked his eyeballs almost popped out of his face! It reminded me a little bit of when I told Saïx about Xion's crush, only Saïx didn't react as much. It was still funnier because Saïx is Saïx, though. _Any _reaction out of him is priceless.

Ventus shook his head violently. "I don't have a crush on Aqua!"

"Well you should, 'cause she's the best. And she's really pretty, too." He _should _love her, not that I would let him. Aqua's _mine. _Still, I wasn't going to pass up a chance to tease Ventus.

"Well yeah, of course she's pretty…" His face got really red again, even redder than before.

I jumped up and down on the couch like Dad always says not to. "Hah! I knew it! Ventus loves Aqua, Ventus lo-"

Suddenly he tackled me to the other side of the couch, covering my mouth.

"Shh, she'll hear you!" He yell-whispered. His eyes darted back and forth in panic. "I don't have a crush on her! She's like my sister!"

My eyes narrowed, and I squirmed out from under him. "Then why are you so red?" I challenged. And Aqua couldn't be his sister, either. She's _my _sister. She doesn't need any brothers besides me and Saïx, and she especially doesn't need anyone having a crush on her.

He sat back with a sigh. "…Because I used to think I did. I don't, really, and you _can't tell her." _

He might've looked like a wimp before, but his face almost looked scary now. Almost. I wasn't scared of him. But there wasn't any reason to tell Aqua, anyway, it would probably just make her feel bad or something, and I didn't want her to feel bad, even over an idiot like Ventus.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway. She's _mine, _and I don't have to share her with anyone but Xion and Saïx." I stuck my tongue out at him.

He stared at me the same way he did when I first started talking to him, then smiled a little. "Believe me, I'm not taking her from you."

"Good." I glared at him. "'Cause she can love me and Xion and Saïx and Dad and _nobody else."_

Ventus scooted away from me. "I think Aqua has a big enough heart for more than just you guys."

I frowned. She did have a lot of friends… But she couldn't love anyone else more than me. She's _my _sister, and I wouldn't give her up to anyone, ever.

"Hmph. Well, I'll let you stay her friend, but that's it." I crossed my arms.

His smile finally exploded into a laugh.

"_What?" _I challenged. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not, I'm not," he said, laughing more.

"You're lying! I'll sic Flood on you!"

"No, please! Have mercy!" He was _still _laughing!

"Then stop and tell me what's funny!"

He messed up my hair just as Aqua walked down the stairs, looking princessy in her blue skirt. Where was she going with Ventus and Terra that she had to dress up for?

"I was laughing because, uh, you're right."

"Right about what?" Aqua asked. Ventus whirled around, saw her, and panicked.

"Um- that-"

I ran up and jumped into her arms. "That Ventus can be your friend."

She looked between me and him like we were crazy. "Why wouldn't he be?"

I opened my mouth, then shut it. Ventus could jump off a cliff for all I cared, but like I said earlier, I didn't want Aqua to feel bad.

Ventus answered instead. "We'll always be friends, right?"

Aqua smiled and pulled him into our hug.

"Ven, you're more than my friend. You're practically my brother."

Ventus smiled. Aqua smiled more. They both squished me uncomfortably.

I pouted. Aqua just _had _to adopt other brothers.

Her heart better be big enough for all of us.

**A/N: I have a lot of notes on this chapter…**

**For the record, I don't like VenQua. In canon she's like his mommy; in this fic she's like his sister. In my headcanon Ven thought he had a small crush on her for a little while, though, mostly because in canon he didn't know any other girls for so long, and in this fic because I carried it over from my canon!headcanon (does that even make sense?) and they were such close friends. Ven was being honest about not actually having a crush on her, though.**

**Vanitas is very possessive of his siblings. Judging by how he is here when Ven doesn't even really have a crush on Aqua, you can probably tell how things will go in the main story when he finds out about Xion's date with Axel and Aqua's date with Terra. Saïx's date with Jasmine, too, but he's not as close to Saïx as he is to his sisters. Vanitas is also a hypocrite.**

**I hope Ven's not too OOC in this; it was hard to figure out how he'd deal with Vani. He only listens to Vani because he knows it's pointless to argue with an eight-year-old.**

**The original plunny for this was Vani's comment about Ven having a crush on Aqua, and then I wove this chapter around that.**

**Now I know how Saïx got his scars in this universe! Thank you Vanitas~ Now I have another chapter idea; looks like I'm going to be running myself in circles getting more and more plunnies for this fic… And I still haven't finished the semi-AkuShi chapter I had intended to kick this fic off with. *sweatdrop***


	4. The Larxene Incident

**A/N: There are a lot of things in this chapter that I was uncomfortable with writing… pretty much anything related to the Larxel, and not just because I hate that pairing. But this is very important to Axel's character development, so I wrote it anyway. I make things sound worse than they are, and I'm probably just being paranoid… **

**I recommend reading "In the Shades of 100 Altered Suns" if you haven't already; there's a reference to one of those chapters somewhere in here.**

**Axel's 16, Xion's 15.**

"_Out of all the worst things that could happen, this is the! Worst! Possible! Thing!"_

If Rarity was talking to me instead of the ponies in _Friendship is Magic, _I would agree with her.

I wrap my blanket tighter around myself, sinking deeper into the old couch. Too bad I can't sink all the way down and hide myself from the face of the universe.

"Gah, I'm such an _idiot." _I sound weaker and weaker every time I say it. I just let her use me… I let her mold me like freaking Play-Doh, and I _liked _it… That can't be what love is. I couldn't have really loved her. But still, four months of going through the motions just to be thrown out when I won't cave to the one thing she probably wanted all along…

I'm so wrapped up in angsting that I scream (very manly-sounding, I'm sure) and try to jump up when someone sits down beside me.

"Axel! It's o-okay, i-it's just m-m-me."

It's dark and I've been staring off into space at the TV, so it takes a minute for my eyes to adjust, but I'd know her voice anywhere.

"Xion?" I rub my bleary eyes. "What are you _doing _here?" She shouldn't be here, shouldn't see me looking like an emotional train wreck, I can't even look at her and her innocent blue eyes after what I came so close to doing…

She takes the remote from the coffee table and turns down the volume so we can hear ourselves over Twilight Sparkle's psychotic breakdown.

"K-Kairi texted me that s-something h-happened to you." Her teeth chatter as she shivers, and I realize she's _soaking wet._

"Something happened to _you! _Did you walkall the way here?" For a moment I forget how much I feel like garbage and pull her close to bundle her up in my blanket.

"It's not s-s-so f-far." She shrugs like it's no big deal, which it obviously is.

"Xion, if you haven't noticed, it's _sleeting _outside. You could've froze to death!" She doesn't say anything, though I can feel her still shivering. Her soaked clothes are dampening my nightshirt, but I wrap my arms around her to keep her warm. "And isn't it past your curfew?" I probably sound like her mom, well, if her mom was still alive, but I don't care.

"Um…" She looks away. "I sort of… snuck out."

My eyes widen. I've been practically shunning her, along with all my friends, since I started going out with Larxene, and she'd _still _do that for me? I suddenly feel even more like scum than before. "You _snuck out, walked _all the way here _through the sleet, _and – how did you get in, anyway?"

"Kairi let m-me in." At least her teeth aren't chattering as bad now.

"Did she tell you to come?" If she did, I'm going to give her a Life Lesson on Not Turning Your Friends Into Popsicles.

Xion shakes her head, sending little bits of ice flying off of her hair. I brush off the rest and squeeze the cold water out.

"She said I should call you and that you'd want to tell me what was wrong yourself, but you didn't pick up even when she t-told you I was calling…"

So this, like every other evil in the universe, is my fault. I couldn't feel dirtier if I stuck my head in a toilet. Kairi tried to comfort me earlier when she got back from Riku's house and found me in the most humiliating moment of my life: drowning in angst, shirtless, feeling like poison was eating at every place Larxene had touched and kissed me… At least Xion came after I'd taken a shower. Not that that made me feel any cleaner on the inside.

"…So I c-came to check on you. She actually said some of the same stuff you did when I came in…" I wonder how I didn't hear them talking. Probably too lost in Angstland. "But don't worry, I'm okay. Oh, and I brought ice cream." She pulls two sea-salt bars out from under her coat like magic. My jaw drops open.

"So you _snuck out_, _walked_ here through the _sleet_ and at _night_, and _brought me ice cream_."

I don't deserve her friendship. I don't deserve to be in her _presence, _after how much of a jerk I was to her, after being so disgusting with Larxene…

Even with only the TV's light, I can see her blush as she nods. "I'm fine, really." She sets the ice cream on the table since I refuse to eat it with her still shivering next to me. "I knew you must be really upset, you always answer your phone when you're at home…"

It hurts so bad to even think of touching her with hands that could never, ever be as clean as hers, but I hug her tightly and tuck her into the crook of my neck because I _have _to make her feel better. She's still so clod and small and fragile-looking. I'm afraid she'll break if I'm not careful.

"Xion, don't _ever _do anything this nice for me again."

She hugs me back silently, not nearly as frozen as before. I sigh in relief. If anything bad happened to her, especially if it was my fault… Well, then I'd have two things I can never forgive myself for.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm alright," I lie. She frowns and pulls back, seeing it as clearly as if I'd stamped "I'm a liar" on my forehead.

"No, you're not. I saw you when I came in – you had tears on your face. _Nobody _can cry while watching My Little Pony."

Apparently I broke a Universal Law, and on top of that, she saw me crying. _Wonderful_. I glance at the TV – the episode's over now, so it just shows the Netflix screen.

"Xion…" I wince. How can I tell her? If she knew, if I saw her look at me with the disgust I feel for myself…

Right now the only emotion in her eyes in concern. "Axel, please. You can tell me."

I look away. "You should go home. It's stupid for you to get in trouble just because I'm an idiot."

"It's hurting you, and I want to help." The determination in her blue eyes stops me from fleeing her gaze again. "I'm not leaving until you let me help you." Man, she can be as stubborn as me when she wants to.

I know out of all my friends, she's the only one I can talk to about this. Roxas wouldn't understand, Saïx would lecture me to death, and almost any other guy would say I should've just done what Larxene wanted, but Xion always listens, and hopefully… hopefully she'll forgive me.

"Okay, I'll tell you." I sigh, digging her out from under the blanket. "But first I'm cleaning you up."

She tries to protest, but I make her take some of Kairi's clothes (I don't want to barge into Kairi's room, so I grab a shirt and pants out of the dryer) and let her change into them in the bathroom. While she's doing that, I stash the ice cream in the freezer for a warmer day (I feel bad about that after she took the time to bring it here, but I'm not going to let her freeze her insides), turn off the TV, turn on a light, and whip up some hot chocolate.

"Thank you." She drops her soggy coat and other clothes by the door, looking a little odd in Kairi's pink style. I'm used to seeing her in darker colors, like black or purple, not that she looks bad in pink.

"I should be thanking you." I hand her a hot chocolate mug. "I'm sorry if I sounded mad at you for coming, I just didn't want you to get hurt because of me." That, and I didn't want her seeing me like this, but deep down I'm still glad she came.

"Axel, you worry about me all the time," she says as I grab a new blanket from the closet since the one we'd been using is damp and useless.

"Of course I do, you're my best friend, and, well, you're so much smaller than me…"

"I'm not _that _small," she huffs, which only makes her look more young and adorable, and she takes the blanket from me. "Let me worry about you for a change."

She makes me sit on the couch and drapes the huge red blanket over both of us, scooting close enough for us to share each other's body heat. Well, mostly my body heat, since I'm warmer than her even on her good days. She stares at me expectantly, and I slump in between the couch cushions, wanting to avoid her gaze. Might as well start at the beginning of this mess…

"Larxene dumped me," I mutter, feeling my eyes sting. Don't cry, don't cry in front of her again, I'm supposed to be the one who always has things under control…

"I… thought it might be something like that." She sips her hot chocolate, hiding her face for a moment. "…Did you love her?" She whispers.

"No." She looks startled by my firm answer. "No… I don't think I did. But it still hurts so bad…" Man, I _am _crying, I can't help it. I feel a little better when she wipes the tears from under my eyes.

"I'm listening," Xion whispers.

"She made me feel like _dirt," _I moan, then burn my throat by taking a big gulp of hot chocolate. "Actually, I'd _like_ to feel like dirt. Dirt would be great. I fell like dirt's retarded second cousin that got disowned and kicked out of dirt-family reunions."

Xion giggles.

"It's not funny!" I snap, then realize I had kind of unintentionally made a joke. "Fine, maybe it was to you. You don't know what she did to me."

"Of course I don't, you haven't told me yet," she says soothingly.

"…Part of it was my fault." I look away, drinking my hot chocolate. Then I sigh. "A lot of it was my fault. I hate myself more than I hate her." It's true. I can't bring myself to hate her that much, it just takes too much energy. Hating myself is enough work.

"Axel, whatever happened, I'm still going to be your friend." She places a hand on my cheek to turn my face towards hers. I can't help comparing her hand to Larxene's, softer, gentler, innocent, not tempting me to do something I'd regret. "I promise."

I know she's not meaning to, but she's making me feel like dirt in the exact opposite way Larxene did.

"…Pinkie promise?" I ask, trying not to flinch away from her bright gaze.

She smiles. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She even does the motions with it. "Or did you mean the other pinkie promise?"

I laugh. "Promise accepted." Heh, I've let her turn me into way too much of a Brony. Still, _My Little Pony _jokes are fun. Too bad most people don't get them. "So…" I take a long sip of hot chocolate to stall, even though I should just get it over with. "…I guess I have to tell you now."

"You'll feel better if you get it off your chest," she replies.

Well… she did promise.

"Larxene came over for a date tonight," I begin awkwardly. "We were supposed to be watching a movie, but we pretty much ignored it, and… made out most of the time…" That happened on a lot of our dates, now that I think about it… And it was probably the part I enjoyed the most, too… Gah, gotta stop thinking about that. How can I even think about making out with her again after what happened?

Xion gags on her hot chocolate. I don't blame her; I sure wouldn't want to hear girls talk about kissing guys.

"Sorry, I'm okay…"

"You really don't want to hear the rest of this. It only gets worse," I tell her.

She shakes her head. "No, you need to tell someone. That's what you always say when something's bothering me. I'm here for you."

Sooo do not deserve her friendship. But she's offering it anyway…

"Well, sometime around… I wasn't exactly paying attention when, but anyway… She started asking questions, like if I really loved her and stuff like that. I said yes because – well I thought I did, in the moment –"

"But you don't, right?" Xion interrupts, sounding worried.

"Right, I don't." Thought I already clarified that… "Anyway, after that…" I wince, shuddering.

"Is it hurting you to tell me?" She asks, sympathy written on her face.

"…Yes," I admit. "But I promised, so I will, unless you tell me to stop."

She nods and takes a long sip of hot chocolate. "I'm ready."

I can't stall anymore. Here goes…

"I let… Larxene… take off my shirt," I say quickly under my breath. That wasn't even the bad part, but I still can't look at her, can't see her face… Gotta finish this fast, get the worst part over with. I leave out as much detail as possible. "We kissed some more, then she ended up sprawled all over me and she wanted me to take off her shirt too, and I started to and she was still all over me and I _liked _it because I'm a stupid, stupid idiot -"

"No," she whispers under her breath, sounding like she's choking. I make the mistake of glancing at her hands. Her hot chocolate is shaking in them. "No, Axel…"

For the first time ever, I can't even reach out to her to make her feel better, because it's all my fault in the first place. But I'm almost done, it's almost over, and then she can judge me as much as she wants and I'll take it. "But then I remembered…"

"_Axel, I'm warning you, she'll only bring you trouble."_

"_She's bad, Axel. I've heard tons of stories, and if even half of them are true…"_

"_You can make your own choices, I mean, it's not my place to stop you, but I –"_

Saïx. Kairi. Xion.

"…Remembered what?" Xion asks quietly. I still can't bear to look at her, but I can feel her shying away from me. She should.

"I remembered the people I really care about." I smile just a little, but it probably looks more like a grimace. "My parents, Kairi, Roxas, Saïx, and you."

"You remembered me?" Her voice sounds so hopeful, I finally look at her. She doesn't look as disgusted as I'd feared, but her eyes are flecked with sadness. And maybe some fear, too.

I look away again. "Yeah. And I realized… if I did that, I knew what would happen from there, and… Well, I had to take health class. I'm not a complete idiot, I guess." I chuckle uncomfortably. "That wasn't what really stopped me, though. I knew… I knew if I did that, I'd never be able to look you in the eyes again."

I make myself meet her gaze just to prove to myself I can. As much as it hurts, I know it would've hurt so much worse if I'd done that with Larxene.

"Axel." Her eyes are so innocent and tender. How can she look at me like that? I might not've gone as far as I could've, but I was so close. So close to probably messing up so many things forever. Sure, there are people who've done that and get away with it – I could list names – but there are even more who don't. Either way, you've still gotta live with the guilt. "I'm–"

I interrupt her, needing to finish first. "I told her that we should stop and how I thought about you guys, but then she just blew up at me and started insulting you guys to the moon and back – don't worry, I defended you," I say before she can interrupt. "I wasn't about to let some –" I censor the word I was going to say, "—jerk insult my friends like that, especially after that. I might've thought I loved her, but I know I love you guys."

She beams at me with one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen. I get a smile like that, after the stuff I told her earlier? "You did? Really?"

"Yeah, and the look on her face was priceless." I laugh. It sounds more like a gag. "She said she only dated me to make Demyx jealous and then she dumped me after that, though. Then I kicked her out." I smile a little smugly, not really upset about the getting-dumped part anymore. Yeah, it still stinks worse than Gaston's gym socks, but I don't want to be with someone who only wants to use me. I hate it when all my friends are right and I'm too much of an idiot to listen…

Which is the part that I am still upset about. I wish I could get those four months back – I neglected Xion and Roxas and Saïx and Kairi so much. And I still feel like dirt's retarded second cousin.

Xion stands up suddenly, almost tripping herself in an effort to get untangled from the blanket.

"Xi?" I get up too. "What're you doing?" She's been so quiet, barely reacting to all of this. Or at least I haven't watched her face enough during the worst parts to see her reactions. I don't doubt that she'll keep her promise, but it still worries me…

"Follow me." She runs out the door without explaining, and I chase after her.

"Xi, wait!" I grab two coats on my way out. "You're _crazy! _Come back!"

She wordlessly takes Kairi's coat from me. I look around – it's not sleeting anymore. A foot of snow covers the ground, with more blowing down and smacking us both in our faces.

"Are you _trying _to turn yourself into a popsicle?" We're both barefoot, and since the snow's sending chills up my legs, she must be freezing to death. Somehow she's not shivering yet, though.

"Lie down in the snow," Xion says. "Please. I'm going to show you something."

"How to get hypothermia?" I huff, even though I'm not that cold. I'm more worried about her. She could've at least put on some shoes…

"Please, Axel. This is important." Whatever it is she wants to show me, she seems pretty serious about it.

Well, she did just sit through my whole disturbing and probably-mentally-scarring angst-story, and walked through this stuff just to get here… "Fine." I flop backwards, sending up clouds of powder that get on my face. "Happy?"

"Now move your arms and legs." The way she says it sounds like she's telling me how to crack the Secret to Immortality or something.

"You mean make a snow angel?"

"…Yeah. Do that."

I make a snow angel and then stand up, having no clue where she's going with this. Xion walks up to me and clasps both her freezing hands around one of mine.

"That snow angel is the real you," she says sincerely. "That's what your soul is. An angel. That stuff that you did and almost-did with Larxene can't be the real you, because I _know _you're better than that." She's blushing now, and her gaze drops to the ground. "…My mom taught me that a long time ago."

It's weird and a little silly, but I think I get what she's saying. "Xion…"

"Wait, I'm not done yet." She squeezes my hand and takes a deep breath, looking me in the eyes again with new determination. I can't look away from her bright blue eyes, eyes that reflect the falling snowflakes. "I'm proud of you, Axel. You stood up to Larxene when it probably would've been easier for you to… to let her do that. You're stronger than you think, and you deserve someone as strong as you are, someone you love for real." Her hands gently slide off of mine, shaking from the cold. Or at least I assume it was the cold. "Never forget. That's the truth."

Her eyes shine with tears. Everything I did, and she's _proud _of me. What she just said – I know it came from the bottom of her heart, and it sounded… sounded _wise. _Like she grew up when I blinked.

But she's been grown up, hasn't she? For everything I say about her being small, she's not that much younger than me. And looking at her eyes… she's more feminine than I've noticed before. Beautiful. I've always called her cute in a little-girl-ish way, but this is different. It's in her eyes and face, not… other body parts that girls (Larxene) would show off. Not a seducing kind of beauty, but not a little-kid cute, either.

Xion is really beautiful… And she cares about me…

"Axel…?" She says hesitantly. I've been staring. A lot of thoughts are just starting to come together, but I shake my head to clear them. I've never thought about Xion like this before, and it's weird to now, especially after everything that happened with Larxene.

Still, she helped me not feel like dirt's retarded second cousin anymore. That's a pretty good excuse for hugging her tightly.

"Thank you, Xion." My voice is muffled against her hair. "You're amazing. I thought I was going to hate myself forever, but… at least I didn't mess up everything. I can still fix this."

I feel even better when she hugs me back, so much purer than any of Larxene's hugs. "If you feel better, then coming here was worth it."

See that? That's why I can't think about her like that. Whatever she said about me being stronger than I think, she's still way too good for me. But… I can change, right? I want to be better for her – as a friend. As a friend.

I hold Xion for a long time, both of us standing out in the snow, not shivering so much in each other's arms. She's still so small, but she doesn't feel fragile anymore.

"…Guess I should walk you home now." I don't want her to leave yet, but it's really, really late, and Eraqus would _murder _me – and punish her – if he found out Xion snuck out to come over here.

For a moment she looks like she wants to protest, but then she smiles sadly. "Yeah… Thank you, Axel."

I smile, ruffling her hair. "You thank me way too much, you know that?"

She blushes and brushes my hand away. I wonder if it annoys her when I do that, if it makes her feel like a little kid. She can be more mature than me in a lot of ways. I don't always keep that memorized…

I grab her wet clothes from inside, and we head back into the snow. Xion huddles close to me for warmth and we talk and laugh about dumb stuff the whole way to keep me from going back to Angstland. It's comfortable with her beside me, in a way I've never noticed before.

"Thanks again, Xion," I say while we walk up the long, winding road to her house. I still can't get over the fact that she walked that whole way just to come see me. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

She beams at me, and I swear it's like she lit up the whole street. It feels like she lit up something inside me, too. I haven't felt this good in ages – not since before I started going out with Larxene. I don't care how good of a kisser she was, I'd rather be with someone I know cares about me. And Xion does, even if we're only friends.

"Axel, you're spacing again." She giggles before frowning slightly. "You're not upset anymore, are you?"

I flash her a grin. "Not at all. Just thinking about my beautiful best friend."

I know from the pleased blush on her face that she likes it when I tell her things like that. I never stopped to wonder if it might be because I'm the one saying it, though.

After a hug goodnight, she unlocks the door and sneaks back into her house. Unfortunately, now I'm the one who has to walk all the way to my house, at night, alone, in the snow. But somehow it doesn't feel so cold.

Just being around Xion made me feel cleaner than a cool shower. She really is special, and she's been with me this whole time… She's the nicest, most innocent girl I know, and she'd never try to use me like Larxene did…

Maybe it's not so weird that I might want to be more than just friends with her.

**A/N: I had to make so many drafts of this, it kept either squicking me out or just failing from a writer's standpoint, and I'm still not convinced it's as good as it could be… *sigh* Oh well.**

**Axel's a Brony. XD It's Xion's fault, and that will be explained at some point in the future. At first he was about as against it as Saïx is in the first BtI chapter. The episode he's watching is "Lesson Zero", the first episode of Season Two. And from that you know exactly how much of a Brony I am. XD/*sweatdrop***

**Larxene is bad in this universe, but not **_**quite **_**as bad as she seems in this chapter. She pretty much did originally go out with him just to make Demyx jealous, but she still liked him some. I have most of their relationship planned out in my head, but it squicks me out so I can't write it. *sweatdrop* I might be able to write how Axel and Larxene first meet from Demyx's POV, though. **


	5. In the Shades of 13 Altered Suns

**A/N: These are the drabbles that were originally in **_**In the Shades of 100 Altered Suns. **_**I decided I'm going to do that challenge in a canon setting, and it was kind of annoying having my BtI-universe stuff spread out. Plus it's pretty hard to keep the word limit in first person for me. :/ Anyway, some random drabbles from Xion's POV.**

_Black and White_

Mom always said the world isn't split into black and white. When I was little and she was alive, I thought that was silly. Of course there's not just black and white, there's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple… But I know what she meant now.

_The world, and the people in it, aren't all good or all bad. Even bad people can get better, right?_

I've done bad things before. My friends have done bad things. Even my siblings do bad things sometimes (especially Vanitas).

The world isn't black and white, because nobody's perfect.

But nobody's completely evil, either.

_Angel__ (Xion is five)_

It was so, so, so cold. Why did Mommy want me to lie in the snow? Well, I knew Mommy was smart, so I did it.

"Good, my little star. Now wave your arms and legs."

I smiled even though my lips were freezing. It was fun, and Mommy was smiling and doing it with me, so it was even funner. She stood and lifted me out of the snow.

"See that? It's an angel, just like your soul."

"I have an angel inside me?" I stared, and she laughed.

"The angel _is _you, sweetheart. Never forget. That's the truth."

_Venom__ (Xion's twelve, Saïx's thirteen)_

"It's not poisonous, it's venomous," Saïx corrected. "Poison is ingested by mouth or absorbed through the skin; venom is injected with fangs, stingers, etc."

"And you care about that _now?"_

"I apologize. My rambling is stress-induced."

The situation _was _stressful. Father told us to clean the attic, but I don't think he knew about the beehive attached to the attic side of the door. When I'd opened it, they started buzzing like crazy.

"Maybe we can close it slowly and not make the _venomous_ bees mad."

"Too late."

Bees were flying out, fast.

We slammed the door and bolted downstairs.

_Confession__ (about a month or two before BtI, Xion's sixteen)_

I've vaguely thought about confessing my feelings to Axel for a long time… and then chickened out once sanity sets in.

What would I say? I'd probably try a simple "I love you" but end up having a breakdown. My emotions are such a mess… I'm finally old enough to date, and I'm too scared to tell Axel I love him. What if he doesn't love me back? What if I make our friendship awkward? Or destroy it completely?

Someday I'll have to tell him. I can't bottle up my feelings forever.

If I don't make a confession, I'll explode.

_Wish__ (Xion's 14, Vanitas's 9)_

"You can't do whatever you want just because it's your birthday." I glared at Vanitas. Unfortunately my glares don't work at all on him. Aqua's are the only ones that do.

"Yes I can! That's what I wished for!"

He took off running out of the kitchen. I caught him and wrestled him to the ground.

"Xiii, you have to be nice to me! That's birthday rules!"

"Well _Father's _rules say no shoving cake in people's faces."

"…I was helping you eat it."

He blew a raspberry and wriggled away, running off with an evil laugh.

_Why do even try?_

_Forgotten__ (Xion is sixteen, Saïx and Jasmine are seventeen)_

I waited outside Saïx's choir classroom. What was taking him so long? I forgot to tell him I was going home with Roxas, and now I'd be late to class…

_Finally, _he came out. There was a _girl _with him. …What?

I ducked behind some lockers.

"…louder, your voice is beautiful," the girl said.

"I'd rather not draw attention to myself. You seem to have no problem with that, and you sing just as well. Take your own advice, Jasmine."

"I don't want to drown out..."

Their voices were lost in the crowd.

_My oblivious, tactless dork brother…_

I laughed.

_Where did they go?__ (Xion's 12, Vanitas's 7)_

"You hid them."

"You can't prove it." When did Vanitas learn to smirk like that?

"But you did. Where did they go?"

"They came alive and ran off."

"Vani! _Tell_ _me!" _I practically begged. So embarrassing, but if Saïx found out I snuck them out of the yard sale…

"Say please."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, please."

He grinned and grabbed my hand, dragging me to a war zone with his Power Rangers fighting my My Little Ponies.

"…Will you play with me? I don't wanna be the ponies, but the Rangers have to fight _someone."_

I laughed. "Okay, Vani."

_Battlefield__ (continued from previous)_

"The Red Ranger pwns Rainbow Dash!"

"Rainbow Dash pwns _everypony!"_

"Well the Red Ranger isn't a pony, so hah!"

"_Any_ ofmy ponies could beat your Rangers with two hooves behind their backs!"

Vanitas yelled and slammed his Megazord down on Rainbow Dash's head. Thank goodness Hasbro uses durable plastic. We traded banter and charged our forces across the battlefield, laughing loudly.

So it shouldn't have been surprising when Saïx found us.

"New enemy!" Vanitas cackled, making his Green Ranger stab Saïx in the leg. Grinning, I attacked Saïx with my pony army.

He wasn't amused. Too bad for him.

_Maniac__ (Xion's 14, Roxas's 13, Axel's 15)_

"That wasn't evil, you just sounded like a maniac." Axel grinned.

"Told you I couldn't do an evil laugh." Roxas shrugged. "Xion, you try."

"Nah, my brother could beat us all, anyway."

Roxas stared. _"Saïx?"_

Axel cackled at that idea.

"My other brother, Rox."

"Oh, Vanitas. That makes sense."

"Man, I'd pay money to hear Saïx's evil laugh. And video tape it since nobody'd believe me."

"Wonder if I could make him…" I mused.

"Are you kidding?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think he'd do it even for his adorable sister." Axel ruffled my hair.

I blushed. "Yeah…"

_Moonlight__ (Xion's 14, Saïx's 15)_

Father encourages all of us to meditate, saying that it's good for our hearts. It's relaxing, but it wasn't until I found out how Saïx meditates that I appreciated it.

He was alone in the backyard, bathed in silence and rays of moonlight. His eyes were closed, and he was – just barely – smiling. I'd never seen him look so peaceful.

I settled in the soft, cool grass beside him and let the moonlight surround me. Breathe in, breathe out. Relax. Smile.

Saïx hadn't noticed I was there, but for those long moments I felt like we were connected by moonlight.

_Devil_

If Vanitas is a little devil, then his redheaded friends are three moredevils. And they're Axel's cousins, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. He, Roxas, and I weren't much better than Vanitas, Hubert, Hamish, and Harris when we were about their ages.

They have their own code, too. The triplets are mute (at least I've never heard them talk) so it's hard to figure out what they're up to. Saïx, Axel, and I are trying to crack it.

We can't let them run around pranking and stealing constantly. Some might call it payback, I'd call it justice.

_Contagious__ (ages are vagueness)_

"You're the best, Axel." I was stuck at home with a cold, and he wrapped me in blankets and cooked his amazing tomato soup for me.

"I know I am," he bragged, kissing my forehead.

I giggled painfully. "Don't do that, I'm contagious."

"Then you can return the favors when I start coughing and sneezing all over the place."

I sneezed while trying to spoon soup into my mouth. Whoops. "Like that?" I grimaced.

He laughed, wiping my germs off his shirt with a wad of tissues. "Exactly. Hang on, I'm gonna find some more Kleenexes."

Yep, he's the best.

_Dearest_

"_Dearly beloved, you're always on my mind, dearest children of mine, don't you forget the love I have for you…"_

Mother had a beautiful voice, especially when she sang us her lullabies, lullabies I still have memorized. "Dearly Beloved" was my favorite.

We were dear to her – me, her little star, Saïx, her crescent moon, and Aqua, her radiant sun. Together, we were her universe. Not her _whole _universe – she loved Father and God more, if that was possible. I don't know how she could love so much.

Someday, when I'm a mother, I hope I can love like her.

**A/N: These are the challenge versions, so they're all 100 words. Sometime I might update this with the extended versions, but those are all in my notebook.**

**I had some notes about Xion's mom… but I think I'll leave that for a certain part of BtI just in case I change my mind. Plus it'll be more interesting that way for those of you who didn't already read these drabbles when they were their own fic. :P**

**Vanitas's birthday is August 20****th****, which according to Raberba girl's list of pairing and character days is Vanitas Day. xP Xion's birthday is September 14****th****, I meant to reveal that in the last chapter, but it didn't work out that way. Saïx's birthday is September 7****th**** and Axel's is October 8****th****, while I'm at it. **

**Xion doesn't actually think that Vanitas and his friends (they're the triplets from **_**Brave, **_**I'm not sure how clear that was) are **_**that **_**evil, but I couldn't think of anything else for that prompt. Merida will probably show up in here at some point.**

**That lullaby has the same tune as "Dearly Beloved". Canon references FTW.**


	6. Melodrama

**A/N: I AM SITTING MY BUTT DOWN AND GETTING THIS TYPED NAOW.**

**Saïx's POV. He and Axel are sixteen-year-old sophomores.**

She was already at our table. Axel let her sit there, in my seat. They were laughing.

I stared at them from across the cafeteria, trying to incinerate them with my eyes until someone pushed past and almost spilled cafeteria-grade refried beans on my shirt. Axel didn't seem to notice me at all, and though I tell him every day not to wave his arms like he's flagging down an airplane when he sees me, I never wanted him to actually listen. His girlfriend was discreet enough to send me a message without him noticing; she shot me a smug look that sealed my decision to relocate.

There was one other mostly-empty table in a different corner of the cafeteria. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until I sat down that the one other person at the round table was Demyx. I wasn't in the mood to listen to his endless chattering today… but he only looked up and muttered a glum "hi."

"Hello," I replied curtly, unpacking my lunch. The smells from this side of the cafeteria were already making me lose my appetite.

"Larx stole your spot, huh?" He asked while stirring his mashed potatoes with his finger. I hoped he didn't plan on eating those; I could only imagine where that finger had been.

I "hmph"ed but didn't feel like talking about it. He looked at me like he expected a more interesting response, but when I started taking violent bites out of my sandwich, he gave up.

"I'm sorry, man," he said, and he somehow sounded like he meant it.

"Don't express sympathy for something that isn't your fault." It was _Axel's _fault; he was the one who should be apologizing. It was one thing for him to invite his girlfriend to our table – I could live with that, regardless of how I felt about her – but he let her take my seat.

I'm aware that that sounds like a petty thing to get worked up about, but that particular seat is special. It is located directly under one of the only air vents, which makes it the only spot in the cafeteria that is free of the nauseating scents of ill-prepared food, and it is in the farthest corner from the lunch line, which makes it the quietest spot as well. The vent had a bonus effect of creating calming white noise that helped me relax despite the general chaos that permeated the foul air. Students tended to give themselves their own seating chart, even at lunch, and everyone was aware that that was my seat.

It wasn't even those issues that were the true problems. It was the sentiment behind it, the idea that Larxene had taken my place, displaced me, replaced me. I could still see them over there, laughing and flirting like disgusting idiots and obviously not caring that I wasn't there.

Axel had had many annoying girlfriends before, but they never so quickly got in the way of his _real _friends. If he was already brushing me off… This could get serious. I could only imagine how Xion would feel. Hopefully this was just my pessimism talking, and it would all blow over in a few days like these things tended to.

"I feel pretty sorry for _him, _too," Demyx said, ignoring my earlier statement and nodding towards Axel.

"Why?" I asked with mild curiosity.

" 'Cause she gets her buttons pushed _all the time," _he said, licking mashed potatoes off of his finger. I felt like I might catch some sort of sickness just watching him, if I didn't vomit from the mixing bowl of foul scents first. "Like, just yesterday she dumped me just 'cause I wouldn't skip band practice to go out with her! Then she went on a rant about how I'm always practicing and I never do anything with her, so yeah, I got dumped." He huffed and shrugged his shoulders, now digging into his chicken leg with about as little etiquette as Vanitas. "Really stinks, she was an awesome kisser…"

I tried not to gag on my sandwich. Am I really that abnormal for not thinking about making out all of the time? But Demyx did bring up an unsettling thought…

"So Larxene requires a lot of attention?" If she took up all of Axel's time… I _tried _to tell him it was idiotic to get involved in serious relationships, but does he ever listen to me?

Demyx shrugged. "Not exactly. She just wants to do stuff on her own time."

Still. I didn't like the looks of this. Especially if Larxene dumped Demyx just yesterday… this conversation could easily get awkward – at least on my end, Demyx was seemingly immune to awkwardness – but I needed answers.

"How long did you two go out?" I hadn't known they were dating in the first place. Not that keeping track of the ever-changing relationships in our high school was at the top of my priority list.

"Eh, maybe two months? Three?" He shrugged. "It was good while it lasted. Still, really stinks to see her dating Axel already, but I can't really blame him. She's hot."

"Is that all you bundles of hormones care about?" I couldn't help muttering. If I _did _want to date anyone, I would consider her personality and general intelligence level first.

"Huh?" Demyx asked with his mouth full. I stuffed the remnants of my sandwich into my lunch sack, officially having no appetite left.

"Never mind." I could scratch the idea of hoping they would break up in a few days… Axel didn't have the greatest track record, but if Larxene could put up with _Demyx_ for a few months, she'd be able to put up with Axel. "Do you think she went out with Axel just to spite you?" I knew from both Xion's and Aqua's personal and secondhand experiences that girls could be cruel that way.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Demyx replied glumly. "But who knows with girls?"

Certainly not I. But if I did know one thing, it was that Larxene wasn't good for Axel. Normally I was more concerned about him being a bad influence on his girlfriends, but this time… I had a bad feeling he might actually get hurt.

It would serve him right. Poetic justice. But I wouldn't be deserving of the title of Best Friend if I didn't try to warn him.

I survived the stenches until the end-of-lunch bell rang, and the cafeteria was plunged into chaos. Demyx squeaked as Gaston shoved past and almost knocked his chair backwards. Some giggling girl almost dropped her tray on my head. This was why I liked my usual spot; it was in the corner, far away from the center of the insanity.

There was no way I could find Axel now. I waded through the mass of teenagers and finally dumped the remnants of my sack lunch into a trashcan before walking out the door.

When Axel caught me on the way to fifth period, Larxene wasn't with him.

"Saï!" He called from the bottom of the stairs, out of breath. He tried to run up to meet me but half-collapsed against the railing. "Just… gimme a 'sec…"

I sighed and met him halfway down the stairwell. "It's not healthy to get winded so quickly."

"Hey, I ran most of the way here from the cafeteria!" He panted.

"It's not that far. You would have more energy if you ate more."

"I, uh, kinda ran out of time today…"

I wanted to facepalm. "Because you were busy flirting with Larxene."

He winced. "I'm sorry, Saï – I just lost track of time, and, well—"

"You didn't even realize I wasn't there," I said bluntly, turning to walk back up the stairs. Axel stumbled behind me.

"It wasn't like that…"

I turned on him, glaring with every ounce of frustration I had. "It was _exactly _like that."

"You act like she's replacing you! C'mon, Saï, I'm your best friend, but I can have a girlfriend too!" He glared back. We were lucky there weren't any kids around who cared enough to start a "fight" circle.

"…We're going to be late for class."

"Ugh, it's not like anyone cares about Oral Comm, anyway…"

"_I _care about my grade, and about not having a tardy note sent home to my father." I set a brisk pace down the hallway that Axel struggled to keep up with. "And _you _need to learn to care about more than messing around with girls who are only going to hurt you."

"You don't even _know _Larxene!" He grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. "You weren't even this much of a jerk when I was dating Charlotte, and you hated her guts."

"I didn't hate her guts, I simply saw that she didn't have a single brain cell in her admittedly innocent head, and you were going to corrupt her."

"I wasn't—! There's no way I'd—! …You really think I'm a horrible person, don't you." He sighed, gritting his teeth. "But forget about me. What did Larxene ever do to you?"

"It's what she did to Demyx," I said. "She just dumped him yesterday over some petty schedule conflict. She's only using you to get back at him."

"You don't know that!" He clenched his fists. "Look, I haven't been able to get a girl in months ever since Mulan gave me a black eye when I tried to kiss her—"

"From the story she told me, you took her by surprise and her reflexes kicked in. Which is why you should never startle someone who takes martial arts from Father's dojo." Though I wouldn't have blamed her even if she punched Axel on purpose, honestly.

"Gah, why do you act like everything is my fault!?"

"Because it usually is." I jerked my arm out of his grip.

"Y'know, I really wonder why we're friends sometimes…"

"Because you need me to knock some sense into you. Now come on, or else we really will be late." I walked as quickly as I could without leaving him behind.

"You're not actually going to try to make me dump Larxene, right?" He asked, jogging to keep up. I sighed.

"Obviously I can't _make _you do anything. I would highly suggest it, but if you choose to be an idiot and ignore my advice, _as usual, _you're the one who has to deal with the consequences."

"You're worse than my mom," he muttered.

"You're worse than my brother."

"Jerk."

"Ignoramus."

"Don't use big insults just to sound smart!"

I half-smiled. At least we managed to hold our friendship together even when we were mad at each other, because otherwise it would've been doomed to fail even quicker than Axel's previous romantic relationships.

**A/N: Sorry if the ending seems kind of abrupt… it was either that, or have them ramble on with no real point.**

**Charlotte is from **_**The Princess and the Frog, **_**not a Disney move I particularly like, but she fit well in the scenario. **

**Demyx normally has friends he sits with, he was just in a glum mood that day because of Larxene and didn't feel like it.**

**Other notes on this chapter… it's been so long since I wrote it, I can't remember. *sweatdrop* Hopefully this might give a little depth to the Larxel backstory… Ugh, it just squicks me out too much to actually write them in any scenes together. I like single!Larxene okay, but I just can't ship her decently to save my life… **


End file.
